Apple has a software workaround for the iPhone 7 home button fails

After the removal of the headphone jack, one of the biggest changes to Apple’s iPhone 7 is the new home button: it’s no longer a mechanical button, but a force sensitive static button. It seems that the company has introduced an additional workaround time when the new button might not work as expected.

According to a MacRumors forum user, the iPhone 7 displays a home button in the phone’s screen when it detects that there might be a problem with it.

Image credit: iwayne,MacRumors ForumsMacRumors forum goer iwayne has shown that the new iPhone will give you an on-screen home button (along with a warning that you may need repairs) if it thinks the physical key is broken. While that's not much consolation if your phone needs to be fixed, it does mean that you can keep using your device in a relatively normal way while you're waiting for your Genius Bar appointment.

The technology may be short-lived when there are reports of Apple possibly ditching physical home buttons entirely with the next iPhone. However, it's not hard to see why Apple would push for a motionless button in the short term. It's not just the customizable haptic feedback -- the new design is theoretically less likely to break (since it doesn't click down) and reduces the pressure to get an immediate fix. Source: MacRumors